China played a surprisingly prominent role in debates surrounding the UK’s 2016 referendum on leaving the EU. For leading “Leavers”, Brexit was a chance for Britain to free itself from a stifling Brussels bureaucracy and build stronger trade relations with upcoming powers like China. But those expecting a blossoming in China-UK relations after Brexit might be disappointed, says Leslie Young, Professor of Economics at CKGSB. Professor Young, who received a doctorate in mathematics from Oxford University in 1971, at the age of 20, and who is now a recognized authority in international economics, explains how Chinese business is likely to be affected by Brexit.

On the morning of June 24, 2016, China woke up to witness an unexpected drama unfolding half a world away. The previous day, millions of UK citizens had voted on whether the UK should remain in the European Union, and all opinion polls, betting and market expectations pointed firmly towards ‘Remain.’ But as the early results came in, the startling prospect of Brexit became a reality. Some people think “Brexit has indeed diminished Beijing’s hopes of treating the UK as a strong advocate for China in the EU”, and there are another voices like “The Chinese… have other ways to penetrate the EU market, for example [through] Greece,” and in a sense they are both right. How will China and the UK’s “Golden Relationship” play out in the Post-Brexit era?

Bill Bishop, co-founder of the stock market news website MarketWatch and author of Sinocism, talks about how China’s relationship with the world has changed. In this interview, he shares insights on China’s ascendance to second-largest economy in the world, as well as some of the serious economic challenges it faces today, such as an aging society and rising debt, and the current backlash against globalization. But along with that, he also discusses the many bright spots–the emerging internet economy, for example–and the hazards of getting caught up in what can be a biased and negative news cycle mentality.

Three months after the Brexit vote, although some people are still in shock and refuse to take the result, most people have cooled and sat down to think about the opportunities it will bring and what to do next. In the interview with CKGSB Knowledge, Mark Pinner, Managing Director and Partner at Interel China, who has also worked for the British Conservative Party, analyses the changes it is bringing to UK-China relations from political and economic angle. Although we’ve known the referendum result, there will be prolonged period of uncertainty: are we going to have a ‘soft Brexit’ or a hard one?

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Information, analysis, and interviews about the Chinese economy and doing business in China, from the people who know it best. Presented by the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, China's leading business school.